THE MOST complete review of traumatic arterial injuries is that of DeBakey and Simeone,5 who analyzed 2,471 cases from World War II. Hemorrhage, shock, distal ischemia, and infection were frequent early complications of injuries to major arteries. After the initial phase of the Korean War, care of arterial wounds improved with salvage of life and extremities.13-16,32 Civilian arterial injuries are often stab wounds, and when they are gunshot wounds are usually from weapons of low velocity, in comparison with those incurred in war. It has been emphasized that the principles of treating arterial injuries learned in Korea apply in civilian life.22,31,37 These include early treatment with control of hemorrhage, treatment of shock when present, adequate debridement of the wound including the injured artery, reconstruction of the vessel using accepted techniques, provision for good soft tissue coverage, and administration of appropriate antibiotics. Late complications of arterial injuries have